The Power of Peptides: GLP-1, CJC-1295 & MOTS-c Explained

Episode 64

Podcast Drop Date: 

8/20/2025

What if healing, recovery, and aging well came not from forcing change, but from activating the natural processes already within you?

In this episode of Functional Medicine Foundations, host Amber Warren, PA-C, and Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C, discuss what peptides are and explore GLP-1, GLOW, CJC-1295, and MOTS-c. They unpack how these powerful peptides impact metabolism, mitochondrial health, and cellular repair and what it means for energy, fat loss, and longevity. You’ll walk away with practical insights to understand peptide therapy and how it can help your body heal, recharge, and thrive.

Transcript:

Amber Warren, PA-C: Welcome to the Functional Medicine Foundation's podcast, where we explore root cause medicine, engage in conversation with functional and integrative medicine experts, and build community with like minded health seekers. I'm your host, Amber Warren. Let's dig deeper.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Welcome back everybody. We're so excited for a little bit different variation of the theme on our podcast episode. So I'm here with Heather Lucas, nurse practitioner that works at the Center for Optimal Health, FMI Center for Optimal Health with me. And we're here tonight to talk about all things peptides, or at least share about our favorite peptides, right? The ones we like to utilize the most in our clinical practice, and maybe on ourselves or on our spouses if they're our guinea pigs. As we learn more and more about these new peptides. So it's pretty exciting. So I'll let Heather take it away with a little intro.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Absolutely. Just diving into this topic that's gaining a lot of buzz in the health optimization world and really just in in the whole world, people are learning about peptides and just have a lot of questions. So hopefully we can help answer some of those for you. Whether you're dealing with chronic inflammation, fatigue, gut issues, autoimmunity, or just wanting to optimize your longevity, peptides are showing up as powerful allies for healing at the cellular level. So in today's podcast, we'll unpack what peptides are and how they work in your body. The most popular and effective peptides used in functional medicine, and how to know if peptide therapy might be right for you. So whether you're a patient, practitioner, or just peptide curious, stick around. You're going to learn how these small molecules can make a big difference.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I think we just found our next podcast hosts with that beautiful intro. Thank you so much, Heather. It was amazing.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: You bet! So what are some of your favorite peptides?

Amber Warren, PA-C: Well, I wanted to start with diving into, um, probably one of my favorites just because of what we're continuing to learn about this peptide. Um, but more because I think it is absolutely a magical peptide. And it goes it reminds me of that. There's a saying and I'm not going to get this right. But like the when it comes to any kind of medicinal approach, the the dose is whether or not it's going to be a poison or therapeutic is always about the dose. Right? And and that I always think of it when I'm thinking about how we choose to micro dose this peptide. Right. And of course I'm talking about these glucagon like polypeptides, GLP-1s. Right. Again, we've kind of gotten used to microdosing our clients with this peptide. And we're finding out that it does so much more than just improve metabolic health and help people lose weight. And, um, actually has some muscle sparing protective effects, which is pretty amazing when someone's on a weight loss journey. But some of the newer data that's coming out is actually showing us what it's doing for cardiovascular health, for kidney health, for mental health support, even how it's helping prevent things like glaucoma and is improving eye health. Um, so I just wanted just to, um, talk through some of these and please intercept, because I know you prescribe and you microdose a lot of this peptide in our clinic as well.

Amber Warren, PA-C: But, um, from a cardiovascular health perspective, we see it improve endothelial function, which is our vessel walls. Um, it helps to lower blood pressure. I've actually had I've used this peptide with a lot of success on helping to lower blood pressure in really tough cases. Um, it improves cholesterol, lipids. Um, we know that a high insulin state will decrease nitric oxide production. There's a lot of talk about nitric oxide right now which will damage the endothelial and vessel walls. And so when we can improve somebody's fasting insulin and improve a state of insulin resistance, then we can decrease plaque formation, which is pretty amazing. So mechanistically it's very helpful there. We see it helping with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Um we've been using it for a long time actually in things like, uh, for things like fatty liver and just inflammation in the liver as well, I think the statistics are something like 50 to 60% of, of, of people have fatty liver nowadays, mostly because of our toxins in the food supply and the highly processed foods. And we're even now seeing it useful for hormonal conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome and endometriosis. And the mechanism there, of course, is improving insulin sensitivity. But it also works to decrease testosterone levels in women when our testosterone levels are too high and normalize our cycles.

Amber Warren, PA-C: And then similarly, in endometriosis, it's helpful in those cases, but also it helps to decrease, um, proliferation of the endometrial lining. Um, so helpful in that in that case, that can dramatically impact fertility on the line of men's fertility, it actually can increase sperm motility and naturally increase testosterone. Um, which is pretty incredible. We're seeing it beneficial, um, being beneficial for a lot of different autoimmune diseases very specifically actually in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and how it can help skin lesions. And I mentioned it earlier, but there's been so much controversy on these GLP-1s. Um, and we see it all the time. Right. These patients that come to see us dosing really high doses. Um, you know, the starting dose when you're looking at some of these auto injector pharmacological products is starting at 25 units, and then you double it and go to 50 after four weeks, 75 and then 100, and sometimes even up to 125mg, which thankfully I've never seen a client that high. But that, to be honest, frightens me that people would be taking that much of a glucagon like polypeptide. Um, so the controversy out there is that, yeah, you're everyone's going to lose muscle mass when they're going on these higher doses. Um, mostly because they're losing weight so quickly that they, their body doesn't have time to preserve that skeletal muscle mass.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Right. It's that rapid weight loss.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yes! So it's not actually the peptide causing it. It's rapid weight loss. I mean, there's been head to head studies they've done. They say, okay, Miss Smith comes in and loses 50 pounds. And then, you know, Mrs. K over here comes and loses 50 pounds. One is on these peptides. One is not. And they will lose the same amount of muscle mass. If they lose that weight in the same amount of time. And what are some of the issues we see with these clients coming in on this peptide, especially high doses?

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah. Constipation, nausea, vomiting, heart burn.

Amber Warren, PA-C: The gut's a mess.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: All the gut, all the gut issues.

Amber Warren, PA-C: They're not detoxing because they're not having normal bowel movements. And the other reason they're losing muscle mass is because they're not eating protein or nearly enough.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Their appetite is so surpressed.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Or they're not eating at all!

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: That they're not just in a calorie deficit, they're in a nutrition deficit.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Amen.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: So their body has no other choice but to get that protein from somewhere. And where are they going to get it from? It's going to eat your muscle. And yes, you hit on a great point. Any rapid weight loss is going to produce muscle loss. Actually any if you're in a color, a caloric deficit, you're going to lose a little bit of muscle too. But yes, our goal with using this in a micro dose way, way is that you're getting a small amount of appetite suppression, more of quieting of the food noise or that carbohydrate craving, but not so much appetite suppression, where you're not able to fuel your body with the nutrition that it needs to take care of itself. So yeah, I really like the microdosing way too.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah. It's amazing. And you, you just really start start low and go slow. And it can be difficult to predict what dose is going to work for people. And of course, it always depends on their modifiable lifestyle factors, what they're doing at home. Right. And it's worth mentioning the exercise component. We make sure our clients are hooked up with some kind of whether it's a strength coach or at least a gym membership or something, and we're really encouraging them to lift heavy. Um.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Right.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Especially as we age and especially as we get closer to menopause as women, um, we're just more at risk of that sarcopenia state where we're losing lean muscle mass. And it's really damaging to our longevity genes and our inflammation in our body.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: And our hormones.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I was just going to say hormones, you know, that probably better than I do. Um, yeah. So so again, it's it's the devil's always in the details and we really try and hit details here when we're talking about microdosing, um, especially this, this peptide. Um, so. So where I was going with that when it comes to, um, muscle regulation and muscle perturbation, I should say, is we're actually finding out that these lower doses of these GLP-1 actually has some anti atrophy, um, benefits. And mostly because the mechanism is it increases mTOR and IGF-1. And so um, it can be very anabolic to muscle um, and can also help to increase the endurance of the muscle.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So it helps people when they're trying to reach those exercise goals. Um, we actually we actually do see it preserve, um, bone metabolic density. So it does preserve and it can improve bone health. Skin. We're seeing it improving collagen synthesis elasticity. Um, the mechanism there is it decreases TNF alpha, which is an inflammatory cytokine that causes the skin to age more quickly. I already mentioned some of the AI benefits. It can help with diabetic retinopathy. And maybe it's protective against glaucoma. Mental health, you know I actually learned this. It's it's amazing what you learn from your patients if you're just humble enough to listen. Right. Um, I've had a handful of clients. Um, small, small, thin women come in saying they want to try microdosing for mental health. And I didn't actually know this was a little bit ago, and I didn't know it was actually an indication. And I'm like, well, you don't you don't need I can't put you on this. It's you're going to lose weight and muscle. You you don't need to do that. Right. Um, but then the more I started to read and study and it's these women that don't either don't tolerate SSRIs or some of these anti-anxiety or antidepressants and don't want the side effects of them. Um, they're gaining either they're, you know, having more mental health issues with it, or they might be gaining weight from these SSRIs.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: So low libido.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Or experiencing low libido, low cortisol levels. Um, so what it does is it actually we know what it does to the serotonin pathway in the brain, and it helps to lessen those the need for those like dopamine hits and it modulates Gaba pathway. So that makes it really Gaba as a neurotransmitter that's very anti-anxiety for the brain. And because of what we what we know about what it does for these these triggers, we're were also finding its really beneficial in drug and alcohol addiction and dependance. And who wouldn't want to benefit our society from that.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Or any type of addictive behavior?

Amber Warren, PA-C: Any type of.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: I've, I have, I have one patient who quit smoking.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So cool!

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: With with me starting after starting on on the GLP/GIP peptide.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Love it. That's so cool. I love it. Um, benefiting the immune system. And I think the mechanism there is mostly because of what we know, insulin resistance and what high glucose levels pre-diabetes will do to the immune system, the kind of chaotic inflammatory state it drives. Um, yeah, we know it drives oxidative stress and oxidative stress. It's a vicious cycle because then it causes cellular and mitochondria damage, and we don't want to shut down our mitochondria because those are our little organelles that make ATP. They make energy. So it just creates a vicious cycle. Um, I can't help but think, knowing what we know, what it does for inflammation and NF-κB and all these inflammatory cytokines, where would we have been 4 or 5 years ago when Covid hit, if we would have had this as a tool, right? As health care practitioners, if we could have been microdosing this not only for treatment purposes when the inflammatory storm, the cytokine storm started, but also just prophylactic reasons, I just can't help but think.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: About lowering overall inflammation that was either caused from the virus or from just high sugars or whatever.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah. Or just we know we we know, statistically speaking, when our morbidly obese clients got Covid right, they were the ones dying. And if we could have gotten I just anyways, I could I feel like that could be a podcast on all on its own. How could we approach Covid differently now five years later?

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Right. We've all learned some valuable lessons in these five years for sure, haven't we?

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yes, even gut health. It improves short chain fatty acids in the gut. Short chain fatty acids are the most robust fuel source for our colonocytes, which are the cells in our colon and in our gut. So we're seeing a lot of benefits in yes for the the autoimmune benefits, but also just directly gut health things like inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis. Um, even gosh, we learned recently there's even some anti-cancer properties of these GLP-1s. And yes, again, I think the mechanism is obesity drives so many cancers. There's various mechanisms, so many mechanisms at play there. But they're starting to study it more um, for our oncology medicine. So it's pretty cool. Um, but yeah, I mean, I could go on and on, but those are some of the things that I really wanted to to hit home. But I do feel like we could dedicate an entire episode to just some of these benefits and even some of the stories you and I are seeing using some of these, this type of peptide.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: And including some of the tricks and tips that we've learned for helping people to be successful using this peptide or these peptides, because there's there's a few different ones. Yeah, absolutely. You hit on the, the protein intake, how important that is. Um, strength training to avoid muscle loss.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yep.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Um, and just the kind of the way that we're adjusting dosing I think.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Adjustment of doses start low, go slow is really my mantra. You really watch side effects and you have to educate them on their side effects. Right? I've had a couple of clients where they get really bad. You mentioned it, but Gerd and they didn't know the peptide was causing it and it was really disruptive to their life. And I'm like, oh yeah, that's hold on. We probably went a little too high. Let's back off a little or even break up the dosing. It doesn't have to be injected once a week. Right? I don't think a lot of people know that. But if you reach a little bit higher dose and it's starting to work for you for inflammation and weight loss, um, but you do find, oh, goodness gracious, that second day after you dose, you're just not hungry at all to eat our good quality protein rich foods. Then maybe we dose twice a week and see how that goes. Go back to that original dose, but just dose it more often. So yeah, it's interesting. And then of course there's a lot of supplements that we put our patients on. I shouldn't say a lot, but a, you know, a small handful of supplements we ask them to take to preserve that lean muscle mass and essentially make the peptide more effective so we can get by with lower doses.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: With the lower dose.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah. Making it more cost effective for people too.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Great point. So much more cost effective when you get by with, you know, a quarter of the dose that maybe you thought you had to you had to utilize.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Right?

Amber Warren, PA-C: So that's great. So I mean, I could go on and on, but I'll stop there because I know there's other peptides. You know.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: It's such a great one.

Amber Warren, PA-C: It is.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: And you know, actually I promised that we would talk about what peptides are and I skipped that.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Thank you. Okay. Let's revert back. I got to I got too excited about the GLP-1s.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Well, what are peptides exactly? Peptides are short chains of amino acids that act, um, that are building blocks of proteins that act as little messengers in the body. So think of them as signals that tell your body to heal injuries, boost immune function, burn fat, build muscle, enhance cognitive function, or even sleep better. And what's amazing is that your body already makes these peptides. But with aging, stress, and inflammation, our production slows down. And that's where peptide therapy really comes in and shines. Peptides interfere with the aging process by directing cells to continue functioning the way that they were intended. Peptides can be extremely effective for targeting a single pathway or mechanism in the body with great precision. So then we can continue on with maybe a couple of my favorite peptides.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Go for it. I'd love to hear it.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Um, we'll talk about this powerful peptide blend that's gaining serious momentum in the functional medicine and regenerative medicine circles, and it's called glow. This is a trio of a trio of regenerative peptides, including BPC-157, TB-580, and GHK copper. So I'm going to break this down by each individual peptide and then sum it up with why we like to use these as a combination, right. BPC-157 is kind of nicknamed the body protection compound. This is one through our peptide certification course. Dr. Seeds teaches that this this peptide is one that should just be in the drinking water because everybody can benefit from this peptide. It has such a it has just overall body body protection compound. It's known for its healing super powers. Um, it can be used as an injectable or oral form depending on what our target of therapy is. So when when it's used as a subcutaneous injection and absorbed systemically, it helps to repair tissues like muscles, tendons, bone, skin. And it just makes it very popular among athletes and people recovering from injuries. BPC can be taken orally when we're trying to target, um, gastrointestinal issues like gastric ulcers, gut inflammation, or leaky gut. Um, BPC-157 is derived from gastric juice. So it is something that's already found in your body and it's incredibly effective at promoting. As I already mentioned the tissue repair It has anti-inflammatory effects, and it helps to stimulate blood vessel regeneration. And with more blood vessels, we can more effectively deliver nutrients to damage to damaged tissues for healing. So for anyone dealing with an injury, chronic pain or leaky gut, BPC-157 is a go to for you.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Absolutely, yeah. I was also reading about how it, um, is protective against the mitochondria, protects the mitochondria, and I feel like mitochondrial medicine is kind of its own thing right now. Right.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: So much, so much attention around mitochondria right now.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah. But I didn't realize until fairly recently the BPC-157 is protective against the mitochondria.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: And just another cool another cool benefit of the body protection compound. Um, the next up, the the next um, peptide that is included in this in this Glow stack is called a TB 500. And this peptide is found in nearly every part of the human body. And it is a tissue repair powerhouse. It increases the activity of the muscle protein actin, and it promotes cellular growth and stimulates blood cell development, and has been shown to repair damage in the heart, skin, um, ligaments, and other organs, as well as provide some pain relief. TB-500 supports faster muscle recovery, so post exercise or injury, muscle recovery uh, wound healing by boosting cell growth and reducing inflammation. Think of it as kind of a master coordinator of cellular repair. Um, it's especially helpful for athletic recovery, chronic inflammatory conditions. Um, neuro repair, thinking about, like, um, like a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. This can be helpful in reducing that neuroinflammation associated with, um, a brain injury. It's even effective for post infection tissue repair. So think of Lyme disease or Covid.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Like that brain fog and cognitive like word searching or, um, just not feeling like you're able to complete sentences or complete thoughts or you're wandering into a room and wonder, oh, wait, what did I come in here for? Those are all kind of signs of neuroinflammation. Um, so TB-500 can be really helpful in, in slowing down some of that.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Well, and it's worth noting that we do um, we prescribe that, that, that there's a peptide, a combination peptide that just has BPC-157 and TB-500. That's incredible. Right. You're talking about the Glow that has all three, which is amazing. But I'm just thinking for yeah, um, post TBI concussion, um, post viral healing just using the BBC-157/TB-500. It's a magical combination peptide.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Right.

Amber Warren, PA-C: That in and of itself.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah yeah yeah. That's why I wanted to break down I love this as a as a product as a as a trio product.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I do too.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: But I love each peptide as an individual too. And yeah, we can combine it in different ways for different effects. Right. So the third and final peptide in this trio is called GHK copper. Um, it's a naturally occurring copper complex found in human blood, saliva and urine so naturally found in our body. It's another anti-inflammatory agent agent that controls oxidative damage, post tissue injury, as well as signaling, tissue remodeling and regeneration of new, healthy tissue. This beauty and brain peptide supports skin regeneration and collagen production to improve skin elasticity, reduces wrinkles, and enhances hair growth. This is one that is kind of a big one. The TB-500 has the hair growth benefits to it as well. Yeah. Um, it, um, it's a big hit in skincare, but it's also being explored for wound healing and cognitive health. Um, so this peptide can be injected subcutaneously for systemic effects or it can be applied topically for skin health. Um, you ladies will use it on their face to help with fine lines and wrinkles and photo damage. Or it can be applied as like a foam to the scalp to help with hair regrowth. Yeah. So this is where things get really exciting from a beauty and anti-aging perspective. Um, HK copper has actually been studied for decades for its ability to stimulate collagen and elastin production. So that's where it helps with the fine lines and wrinkles. Um, improve skin texture in elasticity. Um, it speeds up wound healing, and it can even reset gene expression related to aging and inflammation. So it's not just skin deep. It also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that support the whole body health. So each peptide, like I already mentioned is really great on its own. But when you combine them together, you get a synergistic trifecta, um, of internal healing for the gut, joints and skin and, and then, um, cellular regeneration and visible rejuvenation with the hair and the facial skin and connective tissue. So this is an ideal peptide for people recovering from injury or surgery, chronic inflammatory illness, um, or just those looking to optimize their vitality and glow, quite literally.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I love that. Great job. Great job. That's so awesome. Yeah. And kind of in that same arena of talking about anti-aging peptides, this is one that a lot of med spas have actually been using for several years now. It's called Epitalon. And, um, I've seen some really great benefits. It, it, it actually the mechanism is it activates telomerase, which is an enzyme that promotes, um, telomeres and their health. So telomeres are think of them as like end caps at the end of chromosomes that can reduce aging at a cellular level, cellular level. You can actually measure telomere length. And it can help predict the aging process in a human. Um, but yeah, so it reduces ages, reduces the aging process. Um, it improves melanin production. Um, sorry. Melatonin production. Melanin tan is another peptide melatonin production. So we can use this by itself or in combination with other peptides to really help with antioxidant and and help with sleep. Also because of what melatonin does to sleep. But it restores circadian rhythms and it actually has anti-tumor activity. So another anti-cancer peptide that is being studied for um and it improves immune dysfunction. It works at the level of the immune system to helping with some T helper cells.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So it's a pretty incredible peptide. But yeah, I think of it as like the Med Spa peptide, because I do know a lot of med spas are utilizing it, but I use it. I've used it with great success. Um, and there's, there's good science supporting its use when you stack it with a peptide called DSIP. So delta sleep-inducing peptide. So this is a peptide that I've used with my most significant insomniac patients. It helps to improve the delta wave sleep which is your slow wave sleep, which is your most restorative, um, phase of sleep. And I'm telling you, when those two are used in combination, for somebody who's either been a shift worker their whole life, or I actually had a client who is, um, who was molested as a little girl. And so nighttime became a very traumatic experience for her, even when she was away from from the trauma and the perpetrator. But it still she could never sleep. And using a combination of these type of peptides actually help to restore her her circadian rhythm and calm her body down enough at night to be able to allow her to fall asleep at night so that that was huge for her.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Well sleep is is so important for every part of our life.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Everything.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: And so helping someone. Like you mentioned, your client is helping someone to sleep can just really change their entire life.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Oh, absolutely. And it did. She felt like her life was given back to her right when she was able to finally, like, lay in bed and fall asleep and enjoy the benefits of sleep had to offer. Yeah, it was amazing. Um, but this delta sleep-inducing peptide, we're also finding it has other like neuroprotective benefits and stress relieving benefits. So again, some of these clients that are just, you know, stuck in fight or flight and sleep is their biggest issue. You know, you can't work on their nervous system until you can get them sleeping. And that's where I think some of these peptides to help regulate that. But then you find out that that one of these peptides also helps to combat stress and improve stress resiliency. Like it really is a slam dunk for a lot of people. So I love using those two, those two together.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Well that's a great little stack.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I know yeah it is a great stack. I love it.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Well, let's talk about the next powerful category of peptides that sits right at the intersection of longevity, metabolic health and cellular repair. Since we're just on that path going. And those are our growth hormone releasing peptides. So these aren't synthetic hormones that we're talking about here. They are messenger molecules that tell your body to naturally release more of its own growth hormone in healthy physiologic pulses without shutting down your body's own production. So very unique qualities there. Some people will use growth hormone, but we know that that comes with its own set of side effects and stops your body from making its own. It interferes with that feedback pathway. So that's why I really love these. These growth hormone releasing analogs and growth hormone releasing peptides because they just they work with your body to just enhance your body's own natural function.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Without reaching like these super physiologic levels that can be dangerous for people,

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Right.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Promoting too much growth is is there's such thing as too much of a good thing.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yes, yes, yes there is. And I love it too. I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I love it because we can actually check individuals IGF-1 levels and IGF-1 is a precursor to actual growth hormone. And so this is one where we can actually say yes we have proof that you would benefit. Look at your labs. Your levels of IGF are really low. You would benefit even if it's just I tell my clients I get it sometimes this this can all be cost prohibitive, but you could even benefit from just six weeks of this by getting your growth hormone levels up.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah.

Amber Warren, PA-C: While we're working.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Just short term do it in cycles.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Absolutely.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yep. It doesn't have to be. Once you start these peptides, you're not on them forever. No, it's it's.

Amber Warren, PA-C: It's almost rarely the goal to keep you on them forever. Yeah I'm sorry. Keep going though because this is a great peptide.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah. So one of my favorites and most effective combos in this in this space in this category is a peptide called CJC-1295 combined with Ipamorelin.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yep.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Um so so CJC-1295 is a growth hormone releasing sorry a growth hormone releasing hormone analog. So it's kind of tricky with the words here. It extends the half life of your body's natural growth hormone release and encourages a more consistent production. And this works in tandem with the Ipamorelin, which is a growth hormone releasing peptide which stimulates your pituitary gland to release pulses of growth hormone without raising cortisol, prolactin, or ghrelin. So the CJC being combined with Ipamorelin just extends the half life of of the growth hormone. So you're getting a just more benefit out of your body's own natural release of growth hormone. So when you put them together you've got a powerful, synergistic duo that mimics the body's natural growth hormone rhythm without overstimulation or harsh side effects. Think of this stack um, in it's it's, um, it's gaining a lot of traction in functional medicine, athletic performance, and longevity spaces because it supports some of the key pillars that we really focus on in functional medicine. One deeper, more restorative sleep. We just talked about how important restorative deep sleep is.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Um, the growth hormone is released primarily at night. And so if you're not sleeping well you may not be your body may not be releasing growth hormone in in good healthy pulses like it, like it did when you were in your 20s, maybe. Yeah, definitely. Um, so, um, another another pillar that it hits is improved recovery and tissue repair. So we're telling people you need to be lifting heavy things. You need to be eating protein. While your body needs to repair and regrow those tissues at night time too. So this peptide can help with improved recovery. And and it boosts collagen and supports connective tissue and accelerates joint and muscle repair. Another pillar that it hits on is lean body composition. Growth hormone promotes lipolysis and that's the breakdown of fat cells. So this helps to preserve or build lean muscle especially when paired with resistance training. So important to put the plug in there for resistance training. How important that is. Um, this this, uh, peptide combo can also support cognitive clarity and mood. Uh, many users report improved mental sharpness, motivation, and just overall sense of well-being while they're taking this peptide, likely due to their improved sleep really.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I was going to say, yeah. And from what I know, the the these growth hormone analogs help to improve the lymphatic flow. So it's like the lymphatic drainage of your brain is called the glymphatic drainage. And that's what happens at night. So your brain is literally taking out the trash at night and detoxing at night. And that's one of the side effects I think most most people go on this peptide, you know, maybe a little bit of muscle growth, fat loss, exercise recovery. And one of the benefits that they they notice first before they actually start to see some of those benefits is, oh my gosh, I feel so much better. I've never slept so well in my life. Because it works pretty quickly to improve that, that that restorative sleep. It's awesome.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah. Yeah, it sure is. And then and then lastly, um, the the last pillar here that it hits is just the healthy aging and longevity support by maybe helping to maintain skin elasticity, bone density and, and mitochondrial health back to our little our little mitochondria, powerhouses!

Amber Warren, PA-C: Love me some mitochondria!

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: So this peptide combo is perfect for adults greater than 35. Usually that's when we start to notice a decrease maybe in our our natural growth hormone production. So in adults, those with poor recovery, sleep disruptions or low vitality, people recovering from chronic illness, injury or surgery or high performance or high performers just looking to support body composition and resilience, is typically used as a subcutaneous injection. Taken five out of seven nights of the week running in a cyclical protocol where you do it maybe for 8 to 12 weeks, and then you take a break for a little while and you can do you can do repeated cycles. Um, unlike direct growth hormone therapy, as I already mentioned, this, this combo preserves natural feedback loops, making it safer and more functional for long term use.

Amber Warren, PA-C: And Heather mentioned the dosing, which is really important. It's five nights out of seven. And that's because you want to really give your body a break those two nights a week and not over saturate the receptor and keep your own. More importantly, keep your own endogenous growth hormone pumping, right? We don't want to shut down that response. Exactly. So the dosage is really key there. And that's also why you want to just be careful who you're getting these peptides from and know we'll touch on that a little bit later. But no. Yeah. Someone's recommending appropriate dosage dosages for you.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: And cycles.

Amber Warren, PA-C: And cycles. Good point. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. Um, is that it? That's all peptides.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: I that's all for my CJC Impamorelin.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Great job! I love how you hit on those pillars. I, I just have to say it when you were talking about how like, yeah, anyone could be a good candidate when they're hitting like 35 because that's when you see growth hormones start to, to slide. I feel like we used to look at our parents as they aged, our grandparents when we were growing up and be like, oh, 70, 75 is when stuff starts to happen. And now there's all this talk on all the hormonal fluctuations we notice in our mid 30s. And it's like so depressing. Right. It's like, oh my gosh, mid 30s is so young.

Amber Warren, PA-C: And now it's like wow. That's when you start to lose your hormone. I mean testosterone declines. Growth hormone declines. Progesterone starts to decline in your mid 30s. Like what the heck. But valuable knowledge. Knowledge is knowledge is power.

Amber Warren, PA-C: And we get to, you know, create a better environment. When we know that these things start to really fluctuate in our mid 30s.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Right. And we're living in a different type of environment than our grandparents did.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Great point.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Um, unfortunately, yeah, we live in a more toxic world, just with a lot of.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So they probably didn't start to have, when we know, we actually know they didn't start to have these hormonal changes. It's just so sad, like to think how quickly we've gotten where we are, where we start to have these shifts happen so much younger. And there are there's all sorts of predictive studies being done, like are are even people going to be fertile in their 20s even more? I mean, that's a whole we don't like talk about conversation, but it is concerning.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: But a bright note to that is the fact that we do work in functional medicine, and we have access to really great detoxification protocols. We can support liver and kidney health, brain health. We can support your hormones. We have peptides. We have a lot of these tools in our toolbox.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: And I'm also a strong believer that God prepared us for a time such as this. So even though we're not, we weren't. Um, we're not living in the same clean environment as our as our grandparents did. God, God knew that we were going to live in the environment that we lived in, and he prepared our bodies.

Amber Warren, PA-C: We're educated, we're aware. People are hungry for this information, and they want to know how to help themselves and their family members. Yeah. No, I love it. Um, so, um, changing tide a little bit, but still on the same topic that we've been talking about. Mitochondrial health is one of my new favorites to use in clinical practice. It's called MOTS-c. And it is it is, memorize this one M for mitochondria because it is. This one is all about mitochondrial health and helping to restore mitochondrial health after it's been damaged. And I won't go into it too much. But there's a number of things that will damage your mitochondria. Um, toxins, uh, excess stress, sleep deprivation, micronutrient deficiencies, parasites. Actually chronic viruses. Um, those are all things that damage damage our mitochondria. And we start to get fatigued and we age faster, and we have more brain fog. So we need to keep our mitochondrial health. And of course, figuring out root cause to all the things I mentioned are key. But this MOTS-c really comes in and helps to generate more ATP. Um, and helps to just restore mitochondrial health helps us to adapt to stressors a little bit better.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So we notice we're burning energy more quickly. So it helps with burning fat. It's boosting energy levels, um, and improving insulin sensitivity and glucose regulation. Um, so it's a really good option for those clients that are looking maybe they've they've finished with their microdosing. They've reached their weight loss schools with something like a GLP-1 peptide, and now they are wanting to restore mitochondrial health and and still help with blood sugar regulation. It's a great peptide for that. Um, I've been using it on some of my mold clients because mold is something that will just destroy your mitochondria, and these clients have a ton of chronic fatigue and brain fog. And so while we're working on, you know, trying to get them out of the moldy environment and detox their systems and open up pathways, I'm loving this peptide just to help boost their mitochondria and give them a little bit more oomph and and restoration there. So it's been it's been really amazing. It is not a cheap peptide. It's probably one of the more expensive peptides that we offer. But my goodness if it works you will be, no one will be thinking about the price tag when they can.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah, I was actually just reading about a study where they were using MOTS-c to help people with congestive heart failure, and.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I can see.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: That because where where are mitochondria hanging out in our muscle. Yeah. What's our heart a big muscle yeah. And so restoring the function of those mitochondria help to restore the function of the heart muscle.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I actually think the heart might be the highest density of mitochondria, its either the brain or the heart, I can't remember. It's it's it's one of them though. But yeah, the highest density of mitochondria. So that makes so much sense for cardiovascular health and heart failure. That's great. Yeah I know I'm loving it and I'm looking forward to trying it in more clinical scenarios. Yeah. For some of these clients. Good I know you have one you're really excited to talk about.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: I know I just kind of learned about this peptide. And I'm just really I'm really excited about it because, well, let's get into it. This is a little lesser known but incredibly promising peptide. It's called Cartalax.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Can you spell that for us?

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: C-A-R-T-A-L-A-X.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Okay, great.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Cartalax.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Great.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: And if you or someone you know struggles with joint degeneration, cartilage wear and tear, or chronic musculoskeletal pain, this one's for you.

Amber Warren, PA-C: This is for you.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: When I think of Cartalax, that's the way I kind of remember it as cartalax, cartilage.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Cartilage. Yeah, okay.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: So these peptides kind of try to model a little. Their names kind of model at what they target. But so Cartalax is a short peptide bio regulator that specifically targets cartilage tissue.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Cool.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: It's derived from research in peptide epigenetics and cellular repair, particularly in Russia and Eastern Europe. They've been studying it for decades. So like the fact that I just learned about this one not too long ago, I was surprised because it's been around for many years. What makes it unique is that it doesn't just suppress symptoms, it aims to restore the normal function of cartilage cells by supporting gene expression and cellular repair right at the tissue level. So in functional medicine terms, it's a root cause tool for improving joint health and slowing degenerative changes. Um, the way it works is that it stimulates cartilage regeneration. It helps to modulate the expression of genes involved in cartilage growth, elasticity and repair, making it especially helpful for patients with osteoarthritis. Overuse injuries or age related joint degeneration.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Is it injected into the joint?

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: It is injected subcutaneously. Um, near the, so if you're if you're trying to target, say, your right shoulder.

Amber Warren, PA-C: So it's kind of like BPC. We can inject it around the area and it'll travel into articular.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Exactly.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Cool. That's neat.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Exactly. Um, so it helps to reduce inflammation and joint tissues. It has the anti-inflammatory properties specific to synovial tissue and cartilage, so that helps to relieve pain and stiffness without suppressing the immune system that some people use corticosteroids for. And we know that corticosteroids come with their whole host of side effects and concerns. So this is really nice that it doesn't affect the immune system in that way. Um it slows down joint degeneration like conditions like arthritis by supporting the normal biology of the cartilage cells. It also users often report improved range of motion, joint mobility and decreased joint discomfort, especially when used consistently over several weeks. Cartalax might be helpful for adults with early to moderate or osteoarthritis, athletes or active individuals with joint wear and tear. People recovering from orthopedic surgery or joint traumas Us, or anyone just looking to support healthy aging of the joints and connective tissues. It's also a really interesting adjunct that can be used with PRP.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I was actually thinking that.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Which is platelet rich plasma injections that can be directly injected into the joints or ligaments. So this can be used in conjunction with that also can be used alongside BPC-157. A lot of similar anti-inflammatory tissue regeneration type effects. So um, could be a really good synergistic effect between those two as well.

Amber Warren, PA-C: That's great. Have you told Doctor Musnick about it? He needs to know.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: I mentioned it to him and I dropped off some information on his desk, so I'm sure he's digging into it. So one thing that I do like about this peptide too, you know, we've talked about them being used in different cycles, different durations. This is this is not a terribly expensive peptide. And it's used in a 10 to 20 day cycle of dosing. So use it for 10 to 20 days and then you take a break from it. And you may use it again in a few months for another 10 to 20 days and take a break from it, depending on what else you're doing, to kind of help reduce and repair some of that joint degeneration or pain or inflammation that you're experiencing. So of course, diet and lifestyle has a lot to do with that as well. But, um, I just like this one because it can be used just in short cycles. It's well tolerated. It's non immunogenic and it works with the body's own regulatory systems. Not by not overriding them. So what makes Cartalax exciting from a root cause perspective is that it helps to reprogram tissue repair at the cellular level, not just mask the pain and inflammation. So instead of reaching for NSAIDs like Tylenol or ibuprofen or, or corticosteroids that we already mentioned, which come with with its own side effects, Cartalax helps restore balance, structure and function in the very tissue that it's breaking. That's breaking down. It kind of offers a new frontier and joint and cartilage regeneration. It's gentle, biologically intelligent, and aligned with the way that our body heals. So whether you're recovering from injury, uh, aging with active goals, or just wanting to stay mobile and pain free, it's a peptide worth knowing.

Amber Warren, PA-C: It's awesome. Oh, I love it. Yeah, so many different. I'm just thinking about all the different indications and usages for people that otherwise feel like they're kind of stuck or have to take their Advil every day, or they're just waiting to have to get that total joint, right?

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Right.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Just putting that off.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: And really expensive, expensive therapies that absolutely different expensive therapies that are out there. This like I said, this is not a terribly expensive peptide and you're just doing it in short cycles. So you could try it for the the 10 to 20 day cycle. And if you get results then it might be worth it to stay on it a couple times a year. Absolutely. You know.

Amber Warren, PA-C: That's great. Yeah.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Until we get healed.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I love it. Um, there's just one more I want to mention, and I think my I have this in my family, my family history. I watched her grandmother go downhill pretty quickly with Alzheimer's disease. And so it's on my heart. But I also just think it's an epidemic in and of itself. And we have some new medications, but we don't actually have medications out there for cognitive decline that actually can reverse, um, the, the cognitive decline people experience. And these medications are really expensive. They might halt the progression might, but we're not seeing great, great outcomes here. So peptide called Dihexa that actually penetrates the blood brain barrier. And it is useful in cognitive decline. But the mechanism is it actually increases neurogenesis which is new neurons being formed, the growth and development of new neurons being formed in the brain and improves synaptic plasticity. So it strengthens and forms new connection between these neurons. Um, even beyond trying to reverse cognitive decline, we're seeing its benefits for even just improving mental performance and being sharp. And so I think there's a lot of even younger patients that, yeah, maybe they've got some in their family history and they're concerned about cognitive or they've looked at their genes and know that they're a little more at risk. But even just want to be a little bit more mentally sharp, um, for their career occupation or just their life. So, um, yeah, it was one that we were using a little bit. And I actually learned about a while back that the FDA pulled it from us. And so for a couple of years, we didn't have access to this. And I'm so thankful that with some new, um, connections we have, we now have access to this peptide again. And I'm very, very thankful for that. So yeah, it's a good one.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: This is an oral peptide.

Amber Warren, PA-C: It is. Thank you. Yes it's oral. Yeah. Yeah. Cerebral lysine is another one that that um I'm not going to really talk about tonight. That has been but I think dihexa is actually more exciting when it comes to cognition. Yes. Thank you. It's an oral peptide. And I think that's important because a lot of people are a little fearful of, of an injection, especially maybe some of the elderly or there, you know, if we've got cognitive issues, there's no way they're going to let some caregiver or family member inject them into their abdomen.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah, absolutely. Great point.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah. So yeah oral oral peptide is very exciting. Yeah.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah I'm excited about it. It seems like the you know there's some challenges with getting oral absorption or gastric absorption of some of these peptides. But with the continued research, I'm excited about that there are more peptides coming out in oral, in oral formats for. So for people who are a little nervous about sticking themselves with a needle, or maybe they just get like needle fatigue or injection fatigue if they're using a number of different peptides. And whatever. It is nice to have some oral options or topical options.

Amber Warren, PA-C: I have some intranasal I've had, and I don't know if we even still have access to it, selank. I've had good luck with that guy in intranasal form for some really anxious patients who were wanting to get off their SSRIs or get by with maybe lower doses of their SSRIs. And again, you know, panic attacks, lots of anxiety. They're not going to inject themselves to the needle every day. So I had luck with it as an oral formulation. I don't think that's one we still have access to. But I should look into that.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: We have it as an injectable.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Do we? Okay, okay.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: We have it as an injectable. I love looking into it to help treat some adult ADHD type symptoms.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Absolutely. It's so good for the brain. Yeah, I had a ton of luck with it for for some pretty severe anxiety clients. So yeah. Um, let's let's talk more about that offline because I'm excited about that peptide offering.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah, definitely. Well does that wrap up all the peptides that you're wanting?

Amber Warren, PA-C: That's all I had. I mean, we could go on and on. You know, there's so many new ones coming out and ones that we do have access to. But, um, you know, we we take our, take our prescribing abilities pretty seriously, and we want to make sure I, I mean, I know I'm speaking for you, too. Like, I want to be very educated on these new peptides that are coming out before I just start dispensing it. So again, I'm usually the guinea pig or more often my husband's the guinea pig. And I'm like, hey, I've got some i want to try.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Well, yeah. So in closing us out here, you know peptides are targeted safe and they work with your body but and not against it. Instead of masking symptoms they help your body to do what it's naturally designed to do but better.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Love it.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Um, peptides are not a magic bullet.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Nope.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Key point, but they can be a powerful tool in your wellness journey. When used safely and intentionally, peptides can be stacked together, as we mentioned, for their synergistic effects, but each one is kind of used in different doses, timing and duration. So it's always important to work with a trained provider who understands your body and your goals. In addition to this, it it is critical to purchase peptides from a reputable licensed compounding pharmacy or manufacturing laboratory, not from an unregulated online stores. Peptides sold online are often untested. Improperly dosed, they can be contaminated, and they may not even contain what the label claims that they have in them.

Amber Warren, PA-C: That's pretty scary.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: So using low quality or counterfeit peptides can lead to ineffective results, unexpected side effects, or even harm. Mhm. Um. For safety, purity and therapeutic effectiveness, always choose medical grade peptides and work with a trusted clinician guided source.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, I'm so glad you mentioned that. That's really important.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Yeah.

Amber Warren, PA-C: Great. Well thank you. Hopefully there were some good tidbits and good pieces of, of, um, material that you guys were able to learn from tonight, both as a patient and clinician out there. And, um, yeah, we're offering all these different peptides at our Center for Optimal Health here in Eagle. And, um, yeah, I think we're all taking new clients for anyone interested to learn more about these peptides. And if one or a stack of one of the above would be a good fit for you. Thanks, Heather.

Heather Lucas, MSN, FNP-C: Thanks, Amber.

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Amber Warren, PA-C: Thank you for listening to the Functional Medicine Foundation's podcast. For more information on topics covered today, specialties available at the FMI center for Optimal Health and the highest Quality of supplements, and more go to funmedfoundations.com.